Chapter 71
Surprise Attack
With a muffled thud, the grenade followed a parabolic trajectory, crashing to the ground and exploding inwards into a massive fireball.
The fireball scorched the surrounding grass, setting it ablaze.
The sudden burst of light illuminated the Horus Ranch.
Horus, weapon in hand, had just stepped out the door when he saw the fireball and his pupils constricted sharply.
Heavy firepower?
The ranch's weapons are all old rifles; there are very few semi-automatic rifles, let alone automatic ones.
Are you going to try and withstand heavy firepower with these things?
Horus lacked confidence, but he still rushed toward the firelight.
Under the towering flames, the figures of Caesar and his companions were particularly conspicuous.
Caesar took out a megaphone, turned it on, and said, "Greetings, everyone, residents of Horus Ranch."
The sound from the loudspeaker carried on, and several people near the gate froze, all wondering the same thing.
What are they trying to do?
Are you stalling for time?
Before they could respond, they saw Moore pin Ram to the ground, kneeling down with his head hanging low, looking as if he were somewhat remorseful.
Mohr slapped Ram's cheek and realized that he had been unconscious for quite a while this time, and seemed to be almost dead.
So Mor shook his head at Caesar.
Caesar didn't care; it was just an execution anyway, so whether he lived or died didn't really matter.
He continued, "Your ranch's Ram, along with a companion, came to Caesar's ranch to kill people and steal food."
"It has caused serious damage to our ranch. You must know Ram's usual character well, so this is not surprising."
"We caught him just as he was about to escape."
Hearing the voice from the loudspeaker, the crowd slowly stopped moving and looked at Ram, who had his head down. They were not surprised by his fate.
Ram was unpopular and a real scoundrel who often used his small amount of power as an assistant to make things difficult for many people. This only intensified after the apocalypse.
Such acts of murder and plunder for food are indeed possible.
They did not doubt Caesar's statement.
Caesar pulled out a dagger, pointed it at Ram, and said, "I don't need compensation from your ranch, nor do I need your apology; it's meaningless."
"Compensation and apologies cannot bring back the lives of my ranch workers."
"Unlike Horus, I value the lives of ranchers more than material possessions."
Damn it, you bastard, you're trying to put people down, aren't you!
Horus's forehead creased with a few black lines. He had heard Caesar and the others' voices from the beginning, but he just wanted to hear what they were up to.
I never expected that this would start affecting my own mentality.
At this moment, Horus noticed that the people around him were glancing at him intentionally or unintentionally a few times. He flew into a rage: "Are you all brainless idiots?"
"You actually believe such blatant attempts to sow discord?!"
Horus's angry roar only elicited silent clamor from those who dared not look him in the eye; they all knew that Horus truly was that kind of person.
For Horus, the most valuable thing was his own property, while people were the least valuable thing.
Caesar walked behind Ram, grabbed Ram's hair with one hand, and held a dagger to Ram's neck with the other.
Moore held the megaphone and pointed it at Caesar.
"I will execute Ram to show you the toughness and unyielding spirit of Caesar's Ranch."
"We're cowboys, and cowboys always get their revenge!"
The dagger pierced Ram's neck, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
It forms a fan shape, staining the ground red.
Caesar loosened Ram's hair and, taking the opportunity, beckoned Daryl and Mor to get in the car.
After getting in the car, Caesar reversed and left Horus Ranch, turned off the headlights, and disappeared into the night in an instant.
The moment Caesar and his men left the ranch, Horus's men immediately rushed forward, each one appearing more loyal and more diligent than the last.
The crowd surrounded the gate, looking at Ram lying on the ground with sighs.
Ram had already stopped breathing.
Horus pushed through the crowd in an annoyed manner and approached Ram.
Horus looked down at Ram's corpse, his face grim. He had been doing very well since the beginning of the apocalypse.
At first, some people turned into zombies on the ranch, but the area was quickly cleared. Later, as more people joined the ranch, the territory expanded, and the manpower began to grow.
He had never been treated like this before.
Thinking of this, Horus angrily kicked Ram and pointed at Ram, looking at the surrounding crowd.
"Everyone, it's because of these bad apples that we've been attacked today."
"It's all Ram's fault for acting on his own initiative and committing violence on someone else's ranch."
Horus spoke righteously and eloquently, without mentioning who sent Ram, but only kept belittling Ram and trying to pin the blame on him.
The surrounding crowd naturally believed it and whispered complaints about Ram.
They said he was selfish and caused trouble for the ranch.
Horus kicked Ram several times to vent everyone's anger, his righteous indignation making him seem convincing.
Horus kicked twice and then felt something was wrong with his foot; Ram was holding something.
Without changing his expression, Horus kicked Ram a few times, then raised his hand and said, "Although Ram did so many wrong things, he has already atoned with his death."
"I will take Ram's body and bury him."
Horus explained the arrangements for handling the aftermath and offered words of reassurance. The panic among the crowd caused by the surprise attack subsided.
However, some of the new recruits still showed obvious distrust on their faces.
Horus cursed under his breath, but still greeted him with a smile.
At that moment, Horus turned around and heard the commotion of the crowd behind him.
Damn it, what's all the fuss about?
Horus turned around and saw the dead Ram stand up, rush into the crowd, and bite two or three people.
Ram got infected? Caesar, you bastard.
Horus roared inwardly.
The two or three people screamed and punched Ram randomly, but the zombie felt no pain and did not loosen its grip at all.
Ram looked up and tore at the flesh, the skin of the person beneath her still stuck to the flesh, stretched long like noodles.
In this sudden moment of panic, the combatants instinctively raised their guns and fired at Ram.
Gunfire erupted, and the screams, smells of gunpowder, sounds of tearing and cursing assaulted Horus's senses.
After the gunshots, nearly ten people lay on the ground.
They were all injured, and the smell of blood was overwhelming.
Horus raised his pistol and walked toward the fallen Ram. He was not completely dead yet, but had been shot in the neck, leaving a bloody hole.
As Horus approached Ram, Ram tried to bite him, but Horus shattered Ram's skull with a single shot.
Horus then walked over to several people who had been bitten and scratched by Ram and shot each of them.